Lodge

National leaders of the Loyal Order of Moose permanently closed yesterday the organization's huge Hagerstown lodge, which last week rejected a black applicant trying to become its first minority member.The action came on the same day that the lodge's rejection of the black applicant came under informal scrutiny by the U.S. Justice Department's civil rights division.Kurt Wehrmeister, a national Moose spokesman, said the all-white lodge was shut down and its charter revoked for "repeated violations" of Moose policies.

Breakfast is served – The All You Can Eat Buffet Breakfast at Harmony Lodge is this Saturday starting at 7 and running until 10 a.m. Located at 1510 Tome Highway, cost is $7 for adults and $3 for children. Proceeds benefit scholarship fund. A St. Valentine's Dance featuring DJ Batman is also this Saturday, Feb. 9, at the Perryville Fire Company, 920 Principio Furnace Road. Join the Party with the tri-state area's most popular DJ, who is famous for the "Booze Cruise" and the wildest dance parties permitted by law. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the dance runs from 8 to midnight.

About 70 years ago, Dorothy Burns was a teenager and made a good living waiting tables at Graystone Lodge, a popular dining spot for travelers along U.S. 1 in Bel Air. She would like to see business prosper again in Harford County's oldest dated building. Burns recalled white linen tablecloths, men in business suits and generous tips during the late 1930s. Most of her customers were traveling between Washington and New York, and some stayed overnight in the lodge's second-story guest rooms.

The whimsical building entered into local legend as the gingerbread home of Hansel and Gretel. The Sheppard Pratt gatehouse is so firmly established as a beloved Baltimore landmark that you almost expect merry gnomes to appear at its slender windows. It's not hard to envision an eccentric witch or two here. There's even a little stream nearby for a troll. What exactly happened behind the walls of this semi-mysterious abode in the woods alongside a busy Charles Street adjacent to the Woodbrook, Murray Hill and Greater Towson neighborhoods?

Operators of a Riviera Beach assisted-living facility are to ask the county administrative hearing officer Thursday for permission to expand the center to house five more occupants.Locust Lodge wants to use a vacant one-story building behind the main building to increase its capacity from 15 elderly residents to 20.The center also has asked for a waiver for the main building, which is less than 50 feet from the property line, a violation of zoning law.Neighbors fear that the proposed expansion could create traffic and safety problems.

On weekend visits to his parents' house in Bel Air, consultant Steven Bavett would round the bend on Business U.S. 1 outside town and find himself looking for the old stone house slouching by the road. Though forlorn and empty, it still caught his eye, and his imagination. One day as they drove past, he said to his wife, Anna Marie, wouldn't it be great if the old place went up for sale? The next week, it did. "What fueled it is the fact I fell in love," said Bavett, 40, of his decision to buy Graystone Lodge for $200,000 nearly three years ago. "It spoke so much to me: This is a place that's got to be saved."

Letters, calls and the roar of the crowd:Name Withheld by Request, Laurel: I have been in the military for 22 years and am currently a first sergeant stationed at Fort Meade. It is true there are gays in the military. You can tell who they are. But they don't bother you. I have never been bothered by one.I will say one thing about gay soldiers: They are better groomed. They are more spit-and-polish. And, I think, they are more intellectual than the other soldiers.I was in the gulf war and some of the best soldiers were homosexuals.

Disabled Boy Scouts once dreamed of earning merit badges and building campfires at the Hansen Lodge in northern Harford County.Then, during the night of March 4, 1990, their dreams went up in smoke from an arsonist's match.That fire at Broad Creek Memorial Scout Reservation near Whiteford destroyed the Hansen Lodge, used by retarded youngsters from Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware.No one was ever apprehended.Carl Dederer heard the news and anguished. The year before, his own son, Robert, 32, had benefited from a stay at the Hansen Lodge.

For almost a century, the Mount Tabor Good Samaritan Lodge weathered years of battering rains, harsh winds, and the wear and tear of its members.Now, the two-story, gable-roofed lodge on St. Stephens Church Road in Crownsville will get a much-needed face lift, thanks to a $5,000 grant from Preservation Maryland."

Some neighbors of Locust Lodge, an assisted-living facility in Riviera Beach, fear that a proposed expansion of its operation to allow five more occupants could create problems in their neighborhood."

A bullet lodged in an off-duty Baltimore County police officer's wallet became a key piece of evidence as investigators tracked down a suspect in his shooting, according to charging documents. Police said Friday that they had arrested Michael Jabateh, 18, charging him with the attempted first-degree murder in the shooting of Officer Carlos Moorer. Jabateh, who lives in the 100 block of Commodore Drive in Essex, is being held without bail at the Baltimore County Detention Center. In the charging documents, detectives wrote that Jabateh fired at Moorer four times, wounding him twice.

Superstorm Sandy has left the small town of Crisfield reeling from floods that destroyed homes and power outages that persist three weeks after the deluge. But the storm hasn't dampened the community spirit in this Eastern Shore enclave. Scores of residents expect to come together on Thanksgiving for a community dinner at the Elks Lodge, which is serving turkey and all the traditional side dishes — the majority of the meal donated. In preparation, a sign on Highway 413 reads: "Come one, come all. Dinner at 3 p.m. " "We are opening the doors to everybody and will do the best we can to serve them," said John Mackenzie, who calls himself the lodge's "official poobah.

Three men, including a security guard, were stabbed early Sunday morning during a party at an Elks Lodge in Annapolis, Anne Arundel County police reported. Officers, who arrived at the lodge in the 2500 block of Solomons Island Road around 1:07 a.m., discovered the three victims, who were taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where they were in stable condition Sunday morning, police said. The lodge is rented out for parties and other events. Online videos show the banquet hall, which seats 350, packed for previous events.

Bolton Hill community leaders pleaded with Baltimore zoning officials Tuesday to prevent a fraternal lodge from holding late-night parties, saying that the raucous gatherings are destroying the character of the neighborhood. City Councilman William H. Cole IV, who represents the area, clutched a sheaf of fliers for Hiram Grand Lodge events that featured scantily clad women, promises of "top shelf liquor" and names such as "Love & Lust Pre-Valentine's Day event. " "We're asking you to end these activities because it's killing a great neighborhood," said Cole.

Maryland's horse racing stewards heard a protest Saturday morning from the connections of the second, third and fourth place finishers in the Dec. 17, $75,000 Maryland Juvenile Championship at Laurel Park against the race winner, King and Crusader, trained by Rick Dutrow. The protest revolves around the medical treatment of King and Crusader less than two hours before the race. According to Maryland regulations, a horse can not be treated for anything within two hours of post time.

There's a new animal reigning atop home decor. Cheetah, tiger, and leopard prints and other pieces are sharing space — peacefully — with deer- and moose-inspired merchandise. And while the trend seems made for the coming holiday season, home decor experts expect that it will continue well into next year. The thought of antlers on a wall might bring to mind elements of taxidermy rather than the trappings of decor. But antlers aren't reserved for man caves and hunting lodges.

For 75 years, a building in Historic Ellicott City has served as a meeting place for the Patmos Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. But the lodge's aging membership needs handicapped access and more convenient parking, so it has put the structure up for sale.During its century-old history, the property at 8210 Main St. has been a pool hall, a barbershop, a bar and a variety of other businesses. But for most of its existence, the philanthropic Masons have occupied its second and third floors.

Two of Annapolis' oldest organizations in the fight for civil rights are looking to team up in an effort to help revitalize the Clay Street neighborhood. Wayne Jearld, president of the Anne Arundel County chapter of the NAACP, said yesterday he is in talks to move the organization's headquarters into the historic Universal Lodge No. 14 building by early fall. "The NAACP can be a stabilizing force in the community, and the longer we are there, the more we can make a difference," Jearld said.

A private residence near Sykesville that predates the Revolutionary War is the latest structure in Howard County to be recommended for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Howard Lodge, a 21/2 -story brick house built about 1750, was recommended for inclusion on the prestigious roster earlier this year by a state preservation panel. If the recommendation is accepted by the National Park Service, Howard Lodge will join Doughoregan Manor near Ellicott City as one of the few 18th-century mansions in Howard County that are on the National Register.

Harford County sheriff's deputies and Maryland State Police report: Aberdeen Ronald Wilson Brown Jr., of the 1300 block of South Philadelphia Boulevard, was charged Saturday with second-degree assault. Alan Daniel Guleserian, 52, of the 800 block of Chelsea Road, was arrested Thursday on a bench warrant in a case in which he was charged with driving while his license and privilege were suspended. Aberdeen Police report: Michael Andre Knight, 32, of the 5700 block of Emelia Avenue in Baltimore, was charged Friday with dangerous weapon with intent to conceal.